HEALING AND RECONCILIATION FOR COMMUNITIES AND FAMILIES
The Truth
For many temporary residents, tourists, and summer vacationers, Ontario’s Muskoka is known only as cottage country.
What is often overlooked is the history of the land and its peoples. Because of recent Reconciliation efforts, the community is now advocating for visitors to understand its history and to hear Indigenous voices in ways that honour oral tradition and lived experience.
However, there is a need for digital tools to support learning without placing unsustainable burdens on Elders and Knowledge Keepers.
With approximately 10,000 people attending each year, the Parry Sound Friendship Centre’s annual Powwow has long been a space where Indigenous and non-Indigenous people can gather to share knowledge and culture. To build on the efforts of the Powwow, Parry Sound Friendship Centre is introducing the Voices of Our People “See Muskoka Through Our Eyes” initiative. The program will preserve, share, and revitalize traditional languages, oral traditions, and spiritual teachings through storytelling, language camps, and knowledge sharing. A digital storytelling library will be created on-site, using a professional sound recording booth to capture stories from Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and community members. This digital library will support community programming, school curriculum, and broader cultural awareness across the region.
The Indigenous Reconciliation Fund (IRF) will provide two years of funding to support the development of a publicly accessible online storytelling library that has the potential to reach hundreds of thousands of engagements. The IRF’s contribution will further support four language camps per year as well as the creation of an Indigenous Project Coordinator role and related roles that support the program. Voices of Our People will have lasting benefits, strengthening relationships in Indigenous communities and increasing Muskoka’s awareness and appreciation of its history and First Peoples.
Diocese of Peterborough
